Life: some spices and a pint of beer

Life is not complex, it just needs flavour, some salt and pepper, and yeah a pint of beer always helps.

Its just another lazy Sunday at Anjuna, at a small sleepy shack, which I have over the years liked spending time at. The waiters are lazy, but I am never too bothered about this when I am there, it sort of fits the atmosphere.

Sipping feni (a Goan spirit made from cashew apple), I notice an old man with a long untrimmed beard enter; his appearance, a mix of a fakir and a hippie. He places himself at the best seat, faces the sea letting his body burn in the afternoon heat and stares at the sea while sipping his beer. I wondered if he even blinked. 2 beers down, he was up on his feet, wore his OM saffron kurta, picked up his jhola (the journalist/hippie man purse/bag) and walked away as quickly as he came. Expressionless. But he really seemed content with life.

The snap shows my perspective, of what I saw as I was sitting right behind him, and I was tempted to try to capture this scene. Why? Because it really made me think, this man has all he wants from life at the moment. He probably has seen it all, done it all, which we chase at the moment, and just wants to enjoy life in its simplest sense.

Made me think about the short story I had read years back called “The Bet” by Anton Chekhon who is considered by many as one of the greatest writers of short stories in history.

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